Next gen wishlist

[kyetech]

AAx4 AFx8, and VSync!!!!
I wouldn't care if game are rendered @ 1366*768:
so many display use this resolution that it's not even fun.
I'm sure scaler will get better.
I wouldn't want that a significant part of the next systems horse would be use just to handle super/real/full HD for the win marketting point.

Im with you on that. There is no point going to 1080p if its at the expense of really clean rendering and significantly better full screen/scene effects.

If they put 32MB of edram in, thats plenty of space for good quality AA with enough space left over to use for other rendering tricks.

If they have adaptive AA and edge based AA support thrown in, there will be significantly more quality for a minimum performance hit.

 

[Entropy]

AAx4 AFx8, and VSync!!!!
I wouldn't care if game are rendered @ 1366*768:
so many display use this resolution that it's not even fun.
I'm sure scaler will get better.
I wouldn't want that a significant part of the next systems horse would be use just to handle super/real/full HD for the win marketting point.

While I agree with the general sentiment, I have to say that basing the next generation of consoles on the "HD-Ready" 1366x768 resolution makes no sense. It was always there as an interimistic milk-the-yokels-for-everything-they're-worth kind of stepping stone to 1920x1080p, just as display vendors have been flogging 1680x1050 monitors simply to avoid selling HD capable monitors inexpensively. A means to milk the consumer for yet another upgrade down the line.
It's time is running out though.

If we assume that the next generation of consoles will hit the market in the 2011-2012 time frame, I doubt that there will be much shelf space devoted by then to this stepping stone format, and that generation of consoles will remain the main platforms for another 5 or so years from there.

1920x1080 will be the TV format for the forseeable future, and targeting anything else makes little sense, since that's where the market will be. Just downconvert for those still hanging on to their old interim format TV sets.

 

[liolio]

I'm not sure I would tend to think that it's only when the next gen systems will launch that manufacturers should safely expect all theirs costumers to own an HDTV and I don't speak about fullHD.
People don't change their tv that often especially when they just bought a brand new HD 60" lcd (even if it's not full hd).

By the way manufacturers could be on a tigher transistor budget for the next gen system, i would be really sad if these systems to begin with have to deal with twice the pixel count.

 

[Entropy]

I'm not sure I would tend to think that it's only when the next gen systems will launch that manufacturers should safely expect all theirs costumers to own an HDTV and I don't speak about fullHD.
People don't change their tv that often especially when they just bought a brand new HD 60" lcd (even if it's not full hd).

By the way manufacturers could be on a tigher transistor budget for the next gen system, i would be really sad if these systems to begin with have to deal with twice the pixel count.

Of course everyone won't own HD systems around 2011, a fairly large number will still be using SD. Look, PAL and NTSC has been around for a loooong time, with colour support tacked on along the way. 1920x1080p is the successor, and it will likewise be with us for a long time. The in-between formats are there for marketing reasons (selling the same product one more time) and for technical reasons, mainly concerning broadcasting bandwidth.

The 1366*768 resolution devices aren't less expensive to produce, the format has simply been there to produce tiers in the marketplace. From a technical standpoint, it is completely artificial, and it is showing signs of dissolving. 1920x1080 devices are close to price parity and the market are finding new avenues of producing pricing strata - sizes, 100/120 Hz, ambient light sensing, crippling input options, upcoming technologies such as LED backlighting, OLED screens... Never fear, the consumer will still be milked, just using something other than resolution.

I have no personal stake in this, just relatively old age - 1366x768 has pretty much served its purpose. Once price parity is a reality (as it should be since production costs are basically identical) noone will have any incentive to either buy or sell this interim format. It's a blip in history. Those who have it will continue to enjoy their displays until they find reason to exchange them, but it will be gone from the market.

3-4 years or so down the line, and from there on out, I can't see why you'd target anything other than 1920x1080. Everyone can still enjoy the content in down converted form if need be. If developers run out of pixel pushing power, rendering in 960x540 and converting from there would be an option. But I hope that won't be necessary, from a technical perspective resolution is a very simple problem requiring only brute force, and by 2011-2012, this should be doable at low cost and power.

Hell, I'm willing to bet even Nintendo will do it.

 

[wco81]

You can't just look at 2011-2012.

You have to look at 2015-2016 as well, or about 10 years out from today.

Look at HDTV adoption in the last 10 years and how 1080p displays have proliferated just in the last 2 years.

The next-gen will have to be around 5 years at least, so you don't want to target the market just at launch but over the life of the next-gen consoles.

Oh and I wouldn't mind if they launched in 2010, if it is just incremental. They should be able to hit most of the targets discussed here that year.